MD's Best Public High Schools Ranked In New Analysis

MARYLAND — Several Maryland schools are among the best public high schools in the country, according to a report released this week by Niche.

The 2025 Best Public High Schools in America ranking, released Monday, shows the best traditional public high schools in the nation, including magnet and charter schools.

Niche said its rankings, now in the 10th year, differ from others that rely almost exclusively on test scores and academic performance in that it also includes input from students, alumni and parents, as well as quantitative data from sources such as the U.S. Department of Education to evaluate teachers, resources and facilities.

Maryland has four public high schools in Niche's top 100 nationwide. Those are:

• No. 32 Poolesville High School (Montgomery County)
• No. 63 Walt Whitman High School (Montgomery County)
• No. 70 River Hill High School (Howard County)
• No. 73 Winston Churchill High School (Montgomery County)

Montgomery County dominated the rankings with 17 high schools in Maryland's top 50. Howard County was represented by nine schools, Baltimore County by six and Anne Arundel County by five.

Maryland’s top 50 public high schools are:

1. Poolesville High School (Montgomery County)
2. Walt Whitman High School (Montgomery County)
3. River Hill High School (Howard County)
4. Winston Churchill High School (Montgomery County)
5. Marriotts Ridge High School (Howard County)
6. Thomas S. Wootton High School (Montgomery County)
7. Walter Johnson High School (Montgomery County)
8. Richard Montgomery High School (Montgomery County)
9. Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School (Montgomery County)
10. Centennial High School (Howard County)
11. Mount Hebron High School (Howard County)
12. Northwest High School (Montgomery County)
13. Eastern Technical High School (Baltimore County)
14. Montgomery Blair High School (Montgomery County)
15. Urbana High School (Frederick County)
16. Western School of Technology & Environmental Science (Baltimore County)
17. Academy of Health Sciences at PGCC (Prince George's County)
18. Quince Orchard High School (Montgomery County)
19. Atholton High School (Howard County)
20. Howard High School (Howard County)
21. Clarksburg High School (Montgomery County)
22. George W. Carver Center for Arts & Technology (Baltimore County)
23. Glenelg High School (Howard County)
24. Severna Park High School (Anne Arundel County)
25. Sherwood High School (Montgomery County)
26. Baltimore Polytechnic Institute (Baltimore City)
27. Reservoir High School (Howard County)
28. Damascus High School (Montgomery County)
29. Broadneck High School (Anne Arundel County)
30. Towson High School (Baltimore County)
31. Hereford High School (Baltimore County)
32. Dulaney High School (Baltimore County)
33. Eleanor Roosevelt High School (Prince George's County)
34. Chesapeake Science Point Public Charter School (Anne Arundel County)
35. Oakdale High School (Frederick County)
36. Century High School (Carroll County)
37. North Point High School (Charles County)
38. Wheaton High School (Montgomery County)
39. Rockville High School (Montgomery County)
40. South River High School (Anne Arundel County)
41. Huntingtown High School (Calvert County)
42. Barbara Ingram School for the Arts (Washington County)
43. Northern High School (Calvert County)
44. James Hubert Blake High School (Montgomery County)
45. Crofton High School (Anne Arundel County)
46. Albert Einstein High School (Montgomery County)
47. Patterson Mill High School (Harford County)
48. Wilde Lake High School (Howard County)
49. C. Milton Wright High School (Harford County)
50. Liberty High School (Carroll County)

The company said its rankings were created to provide families with valuable information — both quantitative and qualitative — on schools in their area or in a neighborhood they’re not familiar with yet. As in previous years, the Best Schools rankings include categories for boarding schools and private schools, including religious schools, among many others.

Related: These Are The Best School Districts In MD, New Ranking Says

Nationally, the top 10 ranked public schools in America are:

1. North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, Durham, North Carolina (high school for grades 11-12)
2. The Davidson Academy, Reno, Nevada (school for grades 5-12)
3. Massachusetts Academy for Math & Science, Worcester, Massachusetts (magnet school for grades 11-12)
4. Rising Leaders Academy, Panama City, Florida (charter school for grades K-12)
5. Stuyvesant High School, New York City (high school for grades 9-12)
6. Payton College Preparatory High School, Chicago (magnet school for grades 9-12)
7. Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics, Oklahoma City (high school for grades 11-12)
8. South Carolina Governor’s School for Science & Mathematics, Hartsville, South Dakota (high school for grades 11-12)
9. School for the Talented & Gifted, Dallas (magnet school for grades 9-12)
10. Pine View School, Osprey, Florida (magnet school for grades 2-12)